


Working Overtime

by jicheolist



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Happy Halloween!!, Jicheol, M/M, a halloween special for jicheol!, fluff?, just read it omg
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-29
Updated: 2017-10-29
Packaged: 2019-01-26 04:01:56
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,893
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12548392
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jicheolist/pseuds/jicheolist
Summary: Jihoon actually gets scared easily.





	Working Overtime

 

**I.**

"Jihoon hyung! You're not leaving yet?" Mingyu asked, rather loudly from the other side of the room. He was already fixing his stuff after turning his laptop off, ready to leave anytime soon. They didn't plan to work overtime but Jihoon kinda forced Mingyu to stay with him just so he could finish copy-editing the novel which the deadline is by the end of the following day.

Yes, Jihoon needed Mingyu to stay since... well, let's admit it. The level of his scare-sensitivity is raised higher than usual because it's Halloween season. Most especially, it's going to be October 31 in two hours. And not to mention, the novel he's currently copy-editing is under the mystery and thriller genre.

But of course, he doesn't let Mingyu know the real reason why he asked him to stay.

"Mingyu, I'm almost done. Can't you stay for a bit more?" Jihoon pouts, not tearing his eyes away from his laptop screen.

"But I wanna go home already," Mingyu wears his bag after he finished arranging his desk. He walks toward Jihoon and continuously pokes his shoulders. "Let's go home."

Jihoon shrugs Mingyu's hand away. He just doesn't want to leave his cubicle without getting his work done. There are still about 7 pages to copy-edit. Nonetheless, Jihoon sighs in defeat.

"Just go ahead, you go home first."

"But hyung, you're gonna get scared if I leave you alone!"

"What–" Jihoon shots Mingyu a glare, and then turning his head back to his laptop right away. "I didn't say that. I never said that. Who said I'd be scared?"

"Uh... That's obviously the reason why you asked me to stay?"

"No! What are you saying? Go home, take a shower, and have a nice rest. Bye, Mingyu. Take care! Thanks for staying!" Jihoon bellowed in a quick pace, waving his left hand shortly while his other hand stays glued on the mouse.

"Alright, hyung. Whatever you say. Don't stay up too late and leave quickly too. Take care and don't let them catch you." Mingyu bellowed as well, copying Jihoon's tune. He walks toward the glass door to leave when Jihoon hurriedly replies.

"Don't let them what? Them– who?"

"Oh, you definitely know what I'm talking about. The ones Mr. Choi was talking about. Don't let them catch you." Mingyu repeats with more emphasis.

Right, Mr. Choi, the building's head security guard. Jihoon usually just laughs over the ghost stories that he tells. He's hot but he hates his ghost stories. One time, he told them that there's a young ( _"he's around 5 to 6 years old, I think?" Mr. Choi says_ ) male ghost lurking up and down the building's stairs. Jihoon thought,  _what could a 5-year-old possibly do to harm him?_

"Shut the fuck up. I hope you trip on your way home."

Mingyu laughs as he bids his last goodbye, finally leaving afterwards.

 

**II.**

Unexpectedly, Jihoon's working well even though he's left alone. He has always liked working in silence. Upon realization that he's actually working well, Mr. Choi's stories start flashing on his mind once or twice in every 5 minutes but he does his best to shake them off. Jihoon double-clicked on his music tab in hopes that his imagination would stop working if he starts listening and singing.

He thought it'd work. But it didn't. He ended up closing the music tab because the sounds were distracting him from copy-editing. Jihoon sighs in frustration and just continues typing away peacefully when he hears one small knock from the glass door. He turns his head swiftly to see if someone actually knocked.  _No one was there. Fuck._  Maybe he's just being paranoid? A product of his oh-so-great imagination?

 _Time check, 23:31. It's almost midnight. Just great._  Jihoon has 3 pages left.

"Okay, I just have to finish this quickly and leave. You got this, Jihoon." He whispers to himself. Jihoon types away heatedly, itching to go home when he hears the same exact knock that he heard just a few seconds ago.

_Ignore it, Jihoon. Ignore!_

Just as when he chose to ignore it, the knocks become steady and quick. Three, four, five knocks, fast. He turns his head around again.  _No one's there!_  At this point, he thinks of leaving because he's already scared. But Jihoon thought,  _I might meet the ghost face-to-face once I leave my cubicle! Looks like I'm sleeping here tonight. Is that even allowed?_  He leaves his chair and hides under his desk, hugging his knees before checking his phone.

He thinks of calling Mr. Choi. Scrolling past his contacts list, he realizes that he doesn't have Mr. Choi's number saved on his phone.  _How about Mingyu? I should call Mingyu. But it's not like he's gonna come back here to save me! He's already warned me. I should have followed him._

_Knock, knock._

_Fuck, there goes the knocking again. Nope. I'm not turning around. I swear if someone's just trying to play a trick on me_ –  _who turned the lights off?! Okay, they're back on again. What the hell's happening? Is this some kind of a yearly prank pulled off by our company? I'm working overtime and this is how you repay me?!_

Jihoon's phone starts ringing, which startled the hell out of him. It's from an unknown caller.  _Really, now?_ He swipes the decline button and starts scrolling on his contacts list again just to heighten his frustration because he knows for sure he can't call anyone.

 _I should have listened to you._  He sent Mingyu a message to release a little bit of tension.

After the message has been sent, Jihoon's phone starts ringing again from the same unknown caller. He contemplates if he should answer it. It could either be his savior... or his death.

Hopefully, it's Mr. Choi. The only person who could possibly save him right now.

"Please be Mr. Choi." Jihoon whispers to his phone before sliding the answer button.

"H-hello? Who's this?"

_Bzzt, bzzt._

Only crackling sounds were heard from the other line.  _Am I in some kind of horror movie?_  Jihoon thinks.

"You dimwit. Tell me who you are! Stop trying to play pranks on me because I might faint anytime soon!"

_Bzzt, bzzt._

_"Hey."_

"Wow, you did not just use a voice-changer."

_"Yes, I did. Aww, is Jihoon scared now?"_

The tiny voice speaking from the other line infuriates Jihoon. Although he was scared, he feels like all of this is just a prank. From his phone, he hears the sound of a ball bouncing harshly. When the bouncing stops, he accidentally sees through the glass walls of the office, there was a basketball was rolling on the hallway's floor.

With that, he drops the call. Jihoon hugs his knees close and closes his eyes.  _That's right, Jihoon. Wait for a miracle to happen._  His phone rings again, but this time, it's a text message from the same foreign number.

_"Why did you drop the call? :) Don't be scared. I'm only here to spice things up."_

_Spice things up?_  If that means scaring the fuck out of Jihoon then he'd undoubtedly drop the call, of course. The lights on the hallway start flickering fast before completely turning off abruptly.

 _Time check, 00:00. Perfect._  He closes his eyes once again, in hopes that he could just fall asleep without anyone or anything disturbing him. Jihoon no longer cares if he doesn't get to go home tonight. All he wants is for this stupid scare party to stop. He also hopes that Mr. Choi arrives because he usually checks all of the floors before heading home.  _Isn't he gonna do that tonight? It's his job!_

Jihoon couldn't fall asleep. He heaves a deep sigh and decides to stand up. Maybe he should try going out the office and actually going home. He quickly arranges his bag and wears it. He also takes the scissors from his drawer, just in case a stupid ghost attacks him and hopefully it could die again through stabbing the ghost with it.

All that Jihoon could do now is hope. Hope that everything would be fine. Hope that when he walks out of the glass door, his officemates would suddenly appear yelling "surprise! Happy Halloween, Jihoon!" even though it would be annoying and frustrating as hell. Hope that he could meet Mr. Choi while walking down (because the elevators are no longer working and now he has to pass the stairs with the young male ghost!)

With a phone on his hand to light the way, he walks out of the glass door.  _It's literally pitch black!_  How is he gonna walk and go down the stairs without even tripping? Jihoon starts walking slowly and carefully. Suddenly, he feels something bump on his shoes. He angles the light of his phone towards it.  _It's the basketball!_

"Holy fuck." Jihoon curses lowly. As much as he wants to ignore it, he couldn't help but panic. He starts walking in a quicker pace until he reaches the staircase. Jihoon gulps. He lights the staircase and upon seeing that the coast was clear, he starts going down.

Jihoon stops once he heard the sound of a squeaking shoe. It definitely didn't come from him.  _Could it be Mr. Choi? Or is it the young gho- no!_  Okay, he was just three staircases away from the ground floor.  _You'll be home safe and sound, Jihoon._

He sighs in relief when he reached the third floor. He passed one staircase safely.  _Alright, two more to go!_  Jihoon spots an area in the third floor wherein the lights are still on but after a second of looking at it, the lights went off.  _The heck?_

Bravely, he chooses to ignore what he just saw and proceeds to go down the stairs. Jihoon hears the squeaking sound again. This time, it was clearer and it sounded like it was running towards him. As the squeaks sounded nearer to him, Jihoon drops his phone and the scissors. He shuts his eyes close. He covered his face as well, leaning backwards to the wall. The squeaking stopped. It felt like another entity's presence was in the same position as he is.

Jihoon felt a hand touch his and he yelped. His eyes remained tightly shut even if the hand holding his was warm and gently removing it from covering his face.

"Mr. Lee?" Jihoon recognizes the voice. It was Mr. Choi! He opens his eyes and he wasn't wrong. It was indeed the company's head security guard.

Filled with joy, he hastily wraps Mr. Choi in a hug. "I've been looking for you!"

"Woah." Mr. Choi manages to reply, tapping Jihoon's back lightly. "Why are you still here at this hour?"

Jihoon realizes that he impulsively hugged the taller man. He quickly breaks free and goes back to his former stance. "I was working overtime... A lot of weird things happened."

"Like what?"

"T-there was this weird caller with a voice-changer, it was taunting me! I was left alone in the office because Mingyu couldn't afford to stay longer. The lights were flickering! There a basketball that was bouncing and rolling. I couldn't understand a thing that was happening! Is this some kind of prank that the company does annually?!"

Mr. Choi chuckles. "You had a tough night, Mr. Lee. Told you, this building is filled with ghostly beings. You shouldn't stay here up until this hour."

"I was just trying to finish some work." Jihoon huffs, crossing his arms.

"You're quite brave. Staying here until the clock strike twelve. Happy Halloween, Mr. Lee!"

"Halloween," Jihoon scoffs. "Yeah right. It was quite an experience."

"Anyway, I'm leaving as well. I think we're the only ones left here in the building. You wanna go down together?"

"Of course! I was scared for my life, you think I wouldn't want some company?!"

"Makes sense. Let's go!" Mr. Choi exclaims as he puts his arms around Jihoon's shoulder.

 

**III.**

"Let's part ways here?" Jihoon asks once they exited from the building's main gate. He's glad to have finally reached this place.

"Yeah, unless you want me to company you to your place. That'd be fine with me."

Jihoon's eyes almost bulges out of its sockets, giving Mr. Choi an 'are-you-kidding-me' look.

"What?" Mr. Choi blinks at Jihoon. "I mean... You know, like I said you had a tough night and maybe I could walk you home too so you'd feel more secure."

"But you have work tomorrow."

"You do too."

"Well, fine," Jihoon finally agrees. "I'm gonna treat you to a meal soon. For this."

He's even more happy now because Mr. Choi's going to walk him home. Aside from the fact that he'll be safe and comfortable, he has always wanted to get close with Mr. Choi ( _not literally, okay_ ). Because, even though he tells the weirdest ghost stories, he's actually a pretty cool guy.

Jihoon's home is a 20-minute walk from the building and he thinks that's enough time to get to know Mr. Choi a little more.

"Mr. Lee–"

"Please, Jihoon's fine with me." Jihoon lightly corrects.

"Great! Let's drop the formalities then. You can call me Seungcheol too."

"Alright, Seungcheol," Jihoon smiles at him, trying to lessen the awkwardness he feels since calling him by his first name was still a bit unusual. "You were saying?"

"What if I told you..." Seungcheol pauses mid-sentence, which makes Jihoon anxious.  _Tell him what? What's it gonna be about?_  Jihoon waits for Seungcheol to continue but long seconds passed and he still hasn't.

"What?"

"No- I mean, nothing. Never mind."

"What the heck, Seungcheol? Tell me." Jihoon purses his lips and frowns. He's already been frustrated enough for the past hours and he doesn't want Seungcheol to add up to it.

"WhatifItoldyouthattonightwasaset-up."

Jihoon shots Seungcheol a weird look. "Can you speak slowly? I didn't understand a thing you said."

Seungcheol hesitates once again, biting his lower lip and scratching the back of his head as he thinks. He stops walking and quickly takes a hold of Jihoon's hand.

"Will you promise me that you won't get mad?"

Jihoon narrows his eyes. "Unless you tell me that you're actually going to kidnap me instead of walking me home, I probably won't get mad."

"What? Why would I-"

"That's the point. You won't kidnap me, and you probably won't ask for my permission if you will. So, whatever you say, I won't get mad. I'm just itching to go home."

"Okay then," Seungcheol grins playfully. "Tell me that you promise first!"

"I promise, I won't get mad." Jihoon stated, almost laughing. "Now, tell me what it is you wanna say, slowly and clearly."

"Jihoon," Seungcheol started.

"Yeah?"

"Tonight, was a set-up."

"A set-up?" Jihoon repeats to confirm, confusion taking over him. "What do you mean?"

Seungcheol purses his lips before speaking. "Give me your phone. I'll register my number." Jihoon obliges, handing his phone over.

When Seungcheol returns the phone to him, he checks his number and realizes something.

"You're the one who was taunting me over the phone earlier?!" Jihoon reacts violently. He couldn't explain what he was feeling. Whatever it is, it's in between the actions of bursting into laughter and punching Seungcheol on the face.

"I knew you'd get mad! But yeah, like I told you, it's a set-up."

"I'm not mad, I think. Why would you do that to me... Do you secretly hate me or something?" Jihoon takes a step away from Seungcheol. "That's right. You secretly hate me and you're one step away to kidnapping–"

"No! You're taking it the wrong way!" Seungcheol frantically waves both of his hands in front of Jihoon's face. "This is embarrassing."

"What is?"

"Ididthiset-upsothatIcouldpossiblygetclosertoyouandwe'd-"

"Speak slowly and clearly!"

Seungcheol sighs. "I did this set-up because first, it's timely. You know, Halloween. I used it as an advantage so that we'd become closer. I met with Mingyu when he went out of your office and he told me you'd be staying a little longer."

"Wait, you wanna get closer with me?"

"Second, yes. I want to. I don't know, there's just something that's pulling me towards you. So, I scared you off. Knowing you'd be looking for some company afterwards, I waited until you went out of your office." Seungcheol shyly admits.

"Oh my god, it's Halloween and you're being cheesy." Jihoon shakes his head, suppressing a laugh because  _fuck, that's just so cute._  "Seungcheol, I was so fucking scared I didn't think I'd be out of that building alive!"

"I'm sorry, okay! I didn't see you as someone who'd be easily scared because you always laughed at my ghost stories."

"But those were true, right?"

"Yup, no lies. Good thing they didn't disturb us earlier-" Seungcheol stops snappishly when he remembers something. "You did mention something about a basketball earlier, what was that?"

"What the fuck? You mean, that wasn't you?" Jihoon blinks, almost becoming pale at Seungcheol's question.

"Kidding! All of it was me, don't worry." Seungcheol laughs as he ruffles Jihoon's hair. The latter pouts and lightly pushes the former away from him. The grin on Seungcheol's face doesn't go away. He places his arms around Jihoon's shoulders and starts walking again.

"You scared the hell out of me, you know."

"Don't you think it was all worth it?"

"It was."

**Author's Note:**

> happy halloween, y'all!  
> jihoon actually cussed a lot here, imo.. it was unintentional but who could blame him?  
> this is really a halloween special that i made for jicheol so ;u;


End file.
